CS Lewis believed that Jesus made a mistake

The renowned Christian apologist C.S Lewis, while beloved by conservatives was far more theologically liberal than most realize. For example he considered Jesus to have uttered a false prophecy with regard to the famous apocalyptic prediction of Jesus that members of ‘generation shall not pass till all these things be done.’

Lewis wrote that: “It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He shared, and indeed created,their Delusion. He said in so many words, ‘this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.’ 

And he was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else.” It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible. ” (1)

There are many similarities between the teachings of Buddha and Jesus

Some 500 years before Jesus Christ, the Gautama Buddha, a prince who is considered the founder of Buddhism taught many doctrines that were very similar to what Jesus would teach five centuries later.

Numerous scholars have noted the undeniable similarities in teaching and doctrines between Jesus and Buddha, for example, the eminent New Testament scholar, Dr. Marcus Borg (who happens to be a liberal Christian himself) wrote “Jesus and Buddha: The Parallel Sayings” which aggregates hundreds of similarities in the teachings of Jesus and Buddha.

This certainly doesn’t mean the two are the same religion, but does this indicate that Jesus borrowed or stole ideas from Buddha? While there is some historical evidence that ideas from Buddhism reached Judea (and the western world) being brought back from Alexander the Great’s conquests, and some historians like Jerry H. Bentley argue that Buddhism influenced Christianity, this is not the consensus view.

In the end, this indicates that it’s very likely that kind/pacifist teachings and doctrines independently developed all around the world.

There are many movements who believed Jesus was coming in their lifetime, like the Millerites

There were hundreds of millions of people, who earnestly believed the Second Coming was happening in their lifetime. Some of these believed this with such firmness, they gave up their lives, sold everything, and waited for an event that never materialized. One example of this is the Millerite movement of the 19th century.

The Millerites were a Christian group that believed the Second Coming would happen in 1844. At its peak their movement was 30,000 – 100,000 strong. When the Second Coming did not happen as predicted, an event aptly called “The Great Disappointment”, many left the movement, while others reinterpreted the prophecies and founded the Seventh Day Adventist church.

This historical incident has served as a great illustrator of the psychological phenomenon called “cognitive dissonance reduction,” which is the act of reducing tension between beliefs (ex: “Jesus will come in 1844”) and evidence (ex: “Jesus did not come in 1844”) by introducing some new idea (ex: “Jesus did return, but it was an invisible event, to be interpreted differently”).

While it’s difficult for some to imagine how this group could believe something as incredulous, one must note that they believed this with a great deal of devotion, and suffered immense emotional difficulty coming to grips with reality. One can only read letters by Millerites of the Great Disappointment, to see the stringent emotional grief. As in the case of the letter from Henry Emmons, member of the Millerites movement

“I waited all Tuesday and dear Jesus did not come; I waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, and was well in body as I ever was, but after 12 o’clock I began to feel faint, and before dark I needed someone to help me up to my chamber, as my natural Strength was leaving me very fast, and I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain – sick with disappointment.”

The ‘Golden Rule’ has been around for hundreds of years before Jesus

Why don’t Jews believe in Jesus?

Why don’t Jews believe in Jesus? Are they just stubborn and knuckle-headed or reject it on a whim of personal arrogance? That is sorta what I thought in the past.

Turns out Jews have some big theological reasons as to why they remain Jewish. (Sure one could argue that their theological reasons are wrong, but they certainly exist.)

Jews claim that:

1. Jesus did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies
2. Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of Messiah
3. There are mistranslated verses “referring” to Jesus
4. Jewish belief is based solely on national revelation

See what they mean by these here: http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48892792.html

Why would Jesus ascend “upwards” into the sky?

Where would he go? Past the clouds and into space? Past the moon, Jupiter, Saturn? Since a rocket flying up takes you into one direction of the universe, is heaven in one direction because Jesus flew up into one direction?

If heaven is not “up above” but in a different dimension towards which one can teleport, why would Jesus create such a misconception by flying up above the atmosphere, only to magically disappear and teleport to that different dimension? Isn’t that a little deceptive?

Or perhaps this was a way for prescientific people, who believed heaven was literally above the clouds (Job 22:14/Isaiah 40:22/Amos 9:6) to write the story of Jesus?

“Peronal relationships” with Jesus were invented in the 1960’s

Its common to hear that someone doesn’t have a religion but a “personal relationship” with Jesus.

Turns out this phrase, which has become one of the most widely repeated Christian phrases was just invented in the 1970’s and virtually no one used it before. (1)

Someone before Jesus was called ‘Son of God,’ and and carried the titles ‘Lord,’ ‘Redeemer,’ ‘Liberator,’ and ‘Saviour of the World’

“Imagine this question. There was a human being in the first century who was called ‘Divine,’ ‘Son of God,’ ‘God,’ and ‘God from God,’ whose titles were ‘Lord,’ ‘Redeemer,’ ‘Liberator,’ and ‘Saviour of the World.'” Who was that person? Most people who know the Western tradition would probably answer, unless alerted by thequestion’s too obviousness, Jesus of Nazareth.

And most Christians probably think that those titles were originally created and uniquely applied to Christ. But before Jesus ever existed, all those terms belonged to Caesar Augustus.”

-John Dominic Crossan (Prominent New Testament scholar/historian), God and Empire, 2007, p. 28

This is why some early Christians were persecuted, for they were seen as a political movement, as Marcus Borg puts it “In Paul’s world … Caesar was ‘Lord’ – and ‘Son of God,’ and the savior who had brought peace on earth. So when Paul and other early Christians proclaimed ‘Jesus is Lord’ (and the Son of God and the savior who brings true peace on earth), he and they were directly challenging Roman imperial theology and the imperial domination system that it legitimated.”